Frantz Automotive's racing theme is unique but fitting for the Cary, N.C., shop, which placed ninth on this year's Top Shop list.

Customers racing into Frantz Automotive Center don’t hit the caution flag when the roll into the bay at this Cary, N.C., shop. They’ll certainly pass a checkered flag among the other various NASCAR and sports memorabilia, though.

The shop, owned by Don and Lisa Frantz, draws on the love of NASCAR, racing and college sports not only by the owner, but also by many of its customers. As Don Frantz explains, Cary is a somewhat upscale community, and the clean, unique design appeals to community members.

“When they come here they don’t feel like they’re walking into your typical automotive repair shop,” he says. “People want nice and new, they want clean. They’re not going to go into the shop that you saw, 20, 30 years ago that’s dirty and parts are scattered all over the place. You know, the old brown wood paneling walls, they don’t go for that. So it’s been very successful for us.”

But the shop’s appearance is just one factor that placed it among the top 10 in Motor Age’s fourth annual Top Shops Contest. Lisa Frantz started Richards’ Automotive Center in 1982, running the business successfully for 16 years. After Don came to work for the company, the couple married and later changed the shop’s name and completed the sporty renovation in 2006.

Frantz Automotive provides numerous pieces of top-line equipment for its employees.

The renovation brought two new bays as well as a new customer waiting area, restrooms and exterior. Since construction was completed, the shop reports seeing a 35 percent increase in sales with some months showing 50 percent rises over previous years.

Building More Than A Shop
Don Frantz says the shop works hard to treat its customers like family, which sometimes is easy, as many people have gone to school together or their children have played sports with each other. The close-knit office staff also helps in this.

“I think what sets us apart from other shops in town is we’re a true mom and pop shop,” Frantz explains. “Both my wife Lisa and I work here. We’re on-site daily. I actually still work on cars. My wife runs the office. My mother-in-law also works with her as the bookkeeper. We are as family homegrown as it gets.”

The racing theme is carried out throughout the waiting area at Frantz Automotive.

The shop employees build on this trusting relationship when people bring their vehicles in by sharing digital photos of work they’re doing on the vehicles. Photos can be sent via e-mail to customers explaining work that technicians feel should be done while helping to illustrate the time, cost and effort put into fixing a problem.

“It’s not out of the ordinary for us to e-mail a digital photo of something to a customer to help better explain why their car needs what it needs. A picture helps to explain things a lot better than words do sometimes,” Frantz says. “Say we call a customer to explain they broke a timing belt. If they’re not familiar with the timing belt or what it does, we can take a picture of their broken timing belt on their engine to be better able to show that to them.”

The digital photos actually are a technological advancement in saving parts to share with customers. The company used to do that more often in a similar effort to show customers what work has been done.

“We do save parts, but that’s far and few between,” Frantz says. “Most people just trust us, so they don't have to see what we’ve taken off.”

During the repair process, technicians at Frantz Automotive use ALLDATA and CARQUEST Direct Kit for repair information. The “top-notch crew,” according to the owners, was assembled based on attitude first and ability second. The Frantzes says they can train someone with the right attitude, but don’t want someone with a poor attitude bringing down morale of the rest of the staff.

Frantz Automotive utilizes a competitive benefits structure to encourage the employees to continue growing in their roles.

An employee services a vehicle at Frantz Automotive.

“You never want your employees to look for greener pastures. We believe if we can provide competitive wages, a good work environment, excellent benefits and good retention tools, then the employees won’t look elsewhere and they’ll stay,” says Frantz. “And we don’t have to go through the hassles of hiring or recruiting and interviewing and training new employees. So when they hit certain benchmarks, then they’ll receive a bonus.”

Community Above All
Aside from the efforts done in the shop, both Don and Lisa Frantz are extremely active in the community. From his involvement on the Cary Town Council and other boards to her participation in the schools, sponsorship of the community is key at Frantz Automotive.

“Your community is as good as you make it,” Don Frantz offers. “The more folks that take the time to get involved and give back to the community, the better the community becomes. It is what you make it.”

That helps tie into the company’s marketing plan, which he says starts with word-of-mouth advertising, tying it all together with the shop’s Web site and Facebook page.

“We actually do very little advertising in the local print media these days just because we’ve got a good following and a great reputation around town,” he states. “Our customers do appreciate the fact that we know who they are, they’re not just a number.”